No matter the player's natural ball flight, though, the same general sorts of things are going to happen when they push or pull a shot.
A right-hander stands on #12 tee. Most likely outcomes, whether he hits a natural draw or fade:
- He hits a good shot, at his target, safely on the green.
- He comes out of his tee shot a little, ball comes out higher and hangs out to the right, has to travel farther to be safe on the back-right portion of the green. If it's a huge miss, it hits the middle of the creek. If it's a small one, the ball might hang up on the edge of the green or trickle into the creek or front bunker.
- He double-clutches and comes over the top a bit, ball travels lower, farther (being less affected by the wind), goes into the collection area behind the green or the bunker, with a tough up-and-down awaiting.
A left-hander stands on the tee at #12. Most likely outcomes, whether he hits a natural draw or fade:
- He hits a good shot, at his target, safely on the green.
- He comes out of his tee shot a bit, the ball hangs out to the left and is hit higher. If there's a ton of wind or if he's really hit an awful one, it may be wet anyway but if not and it's only a 4-6 yard miss, it'll end up on the front-left edge.
- He double-clutches, comes over the top slightly. If he's really hit a huge pull, the ball's either way over the green long-right or in the creek. But if it's a slight tug or the pin's in the front or middle, he'll be putting from the back of the green.
There are a few greens at my home course that are pretty shallow and angle from front-left to back-right. I've hit both a draw and fade with my irons at different times in the history of my own golf game and have felt the same relatively high level of comfort when hitting into those greens no matter what.
Phil Mickelson has won the Masters three times and Mike Weir won it in 2003. The sample size of left handed players is pretty small, but it would not be an incredible stretch to at least wonder if Augusta--and one of its back nine's pivotal holes--might set up slightly better for lefties. Obviously the day's pin positions play significantly into it over the course of 18, 36, 54, 72 holes, but that doesn't mean the notion is completely without merit.